Abstract

This chapter investigates the various scripts of paenitentia, the Latin term that most closely approximates English “regret”. It shows how different forms of regret are experienced at actions or states of affairs for which one is responsible oneself or for which others are responsible, involving matters of practical utility or personal honor. It considers the relation between “regret” and “shame”, on the one hand, and between “regret” and “remorse” on the other. The pre-Christian Romans, it turns out, did not commonly think or speak in terms of “remorse” as a distinct emotion.